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Missouri National Guard’s 70th MPAD completes annual training in Egypt
By: Sgt. 1st Class Craig Collins
70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Missouri National Guard Public Affairs
CAIRO, Egpyt – Nine members of the 70th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment recently traveled to Egypt for their annual training to support Operation Bright Star 2009/10, a biennial training exercise hosted by the Egyptian government and Third Army/U.S. Army Central Command.
The mission consisted of two phases.
“Initially, we went to Alexandria to produce print and broadcast news products along with stand-alone photos and B-roll,” said Capt. Michelle Matthews, the unit’s commander. “In the second phase we moved down to Cairo to support the command post exercise at Cairo-West.”
Most of the events the unit covered took place on or near Mubarak Military City in northern Egypt. They covered events such as the 82nd Airborne Division’s strategic airborne jump, an amphibious assault exercise and a combined-arms exercise. Primary participants in these events were units from the Egyptian, German, Kuwaiti, Turkish and U.S. Armies, along with the U.S. Navy and Marines.
Phase one consisted of five days of intense field work, collecting information and images, and transforming them into products that would tell the troops story. The B-roll video clips the Soldier’s collected were edited for civilian media use and military command and public information purposes.
“We had different events every day, such as strategic airborne jumps and amphibious landing operations, that we wouldn‘t normally get to see unless we were in a real world deployment situation,” said Spc. Joshua Breig, a broadcast journalist for the unit. “It was a great opportunity to work on my abilities and become more proficient at shooting video and producing news products in an operational environment.”
The broadcast section, led by Sgt. Christopher Robertson, produced six news stories, approximately 400 minutes of B-roll, one documentary and six press releases.
“My team of broadcasters is the most resilient group of people I have ever worked with,” said Robertson. “My focus with them was helping everybody to stay cool and keep their priorities straight in the face of the huge challenges we had to overcome and keep their vision on the big picture.”
One of the bigger challenges the broadcast team faced was the lack of a Digital Video and Image Distribution System, which is used to send video back to the U.S. Robertson and his team had to use the Internet to send products out. This process significantly increased the length of time it took to distribute video products.
Meanwhile, the print section wrote seven stories, produced approximately 45 photographs for release, published the Operation Bright Star magazine, the Desert Star, and wrote a press release announcing the start of Operation Bright Star 2009/10.
When the unit moved to the primary training site for the command post exercise, or CPX, at Cairo-West Air Force Base, the Soldiers took on a documentary role, by photographing and videotaping briefings, documenting property damage and even making an impromptu portrait of Maj. Gen. Ibrahim, the commanding general of Egyptian forces for Operation Bright Star 2009, for use in the Desert Star.
Several Soldiers also assisted the Third Army Public Affairs office during a mini-CPX for two days to work out any systemic issues before the main exercise began.
Everything produced by the 70th MPAD was sent to the Third Army Public Affairs office for final edits and approval.
“The 70th MPAD’s work ethic and products were better than any public affairs unit I have worked with in my 27 years,” said Col. Jerry O’hara, the Third Army Public Affairs Officer. “And I have worked with many reserve, guard and active duty PA units in that time.”
The opportunities presented during both phases of the exercise provided a well-rounded training environment and real-world mission experience. Both print and video products have been used on the Third Army web page, the United States Central Command web page, the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) web page and the Desert Star magazine.
Video stories produced by the 70th MPAD for Bright Star 2009/10 can be viewed by visiting www.dvidshub.net and typing ‘Bright Star’ in the search box.
For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please call 1-800-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.
Visit us also at www.facebook.com/Missouri.National.Guard and www.twitter.com/Missouri_NG
Posted: 10/28/2009 1:50:35 PM
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